160. Tom & Jerry The Movie; movie review

 

 

TOM & JERRY THE MOVIE

Cert PG 

98 mins

BBFC advice: Contains mild bad language, comic violence

During the 1960s, Mary Whitehouse's National Viewers' and Listeners' Association campaigned to have Tom & Jerry removed from the BBC because of their 'excessive violence'.

Their protests against the animated cat and mouse fell on deaf ears because their seven-minute cartoons continued to be a staple of our childhood.

Nowadays, it is equally hard to conjure with the concept of cartoon shorts on mainstream television as it is with them being offensive to anyone.

So impervious have we become to violence that seeing Tom go splat on a pavement after falling several storeys is about as shocking as Mary Berry baking a loaf of bread.

And that is probably why Tom & Jerry The Movie doesn't capture the imagination as much as it might once have done.

Tim Story's picture has a convoluted script which is merely a platform to show the pair getting into trouble because of their love/hate relationship.

It stars Chloe Grace Moretz as a young woman who has sought her fortune in New York but is struggling to find meaningful work.

But she has a quick patter and manages to convince the manager (Rob Delaney) of a fancy hotel to give her a job ahead of a very high-profile wedding.

His decision is much to the dismay of the hotel's events manager (Michael Peña) who senses that she might not be all she says she is.

Therefore, one of the first jobs he gives her is to find the mouse, aka Jerry, who is causing chaos in the hotel's kitchen.

Thus, she hires Tom, not knowing of their previous form for mayhem.

As said, the plot is irrelevant because the fans simply want a cartoon caper with maximum destruction and that is exactly what they get.

So, it's slapstick all the way with a Bedknobs and Broomsticks-style real-life/animation mix.

The problem is that Tom & Jerry haven't passed the test of time and Moretz and Peña are reduced to over-acting.

Reasons to watch: Sparks a few childhood memories

Reasons to avoid: Tries too hard 

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 5/10

Did you know? In their 1940 debut, Tom and Jerry were called Jasper and Jinx. Animator John Carr won $50 in a competition for coming up with the names Tom and Jerry.

The final word. Tim Story: "I constantly look at Tom and Jerry as family. I have a twin sister. No matter how many fights we got into we were always there when we needed each other. And to have that kind of message kind of resonate in the movie, at some point they do need to team up and save the day." That's It LA

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